“And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them
the names of the children of Israel.” Exodus 28:9

Sometimes incredible stories are actually true, and in this
case, experts agree that a small onyx stone, claimed to be given to a Knight
Templar over 1,000 years ago and handed down through one family from generation
to generation, is actually what the present owner claims: a gem from the
breastplate of the High Priest in Jerusalem.

A Prophetic Stone?

The stones of the choshen mishpat, the High Priest’s
breastplate, were referred to in the Bible as the urim v’tummim, a phrase that
defies translation.

And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim
and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aharon’s heart Exodus 28:30

The Talmud (Yoma 73a) describes how questions were put to
the breastplate, and the stones would light up to spell out the answer. The
book of Samuel lists the urim v’tummim as one of the three forms of divine
communication: dreams, prophets, and the urim v’tummim.

And when Shaul inquired of Hashem, Hashem answered him not,
neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. I Samuel 28:6

According to the Talmud (Yoma 21b), the urim v’tummim were
lost when Jerusalem was sacked by the Babylonians. The Book of Ezra mentions
that individuals who were unable to prove, after the Babylonian captivity had
ended, that they were descended from the priesthood before the captivity began,
were required to wait until priests in possession of urim v’tummim were
discovered.

In addition to the 12 stones mounted on the breastplate were
two sardonyx stones fixed in gold settings on the shoulders of the High
Priest.

And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulder-pieces
of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel; and Aharon
shall bear their names before Hashem upon his two shoulders for a memorial.
Exodus 28:12

Experts believe this is one of those stones. If this is so,
contained within it is the power of prophecy and it may play an important role
in returning the Priestly Caste to serve in the Temple.

Discovery: Too Incredible to Believe

In 2000, Dr. James Strange, a noted professor in religious
studies and archaeology, traveled to South Africa. An acquaintance suggested
Dr. Strange contact a family she had met there and if he could, help them with
a pro-bono appraisal of a gemstone. They were of humble means and Dr. Strange
was a certified appraiser whose services were highly sought after.

Dr. Strange met with the family, intending to humor them.
Instead, he was astounded by what they showed him. “I was indeed amazed at
the gemstone,” Dr. Strange told Breaking Israel News. The stone itself was
nothing special. A semi-precious sardonyx, it had little intrinsic worth.

But Dr. Strange was puzzled by the object he held in his
hands. “I was unaware that anyone in the late Middle Ages had the
technology to cut a hemisphere in such a medium, so I tried to exhaust all
other explanations,” he said.

Even more astounding than the cut of the stone was the
inexplicable inscription inside the stone, visible through the clear surface:
two letters in ancient Hebrew. Dr. Stone wrote in his appraisal of the gem,
“There is no modern or ancient technology known to me by which an artisan
could produce the inscription, as it is not cut into the surface of the
stone.”

Dr. Strange was an expert but when faced with such a
mystery, he sought help. He turned to Ian Campbell, Director of the Independent
Coloured Stones Laboratory in Johannesburg and a leading South African
gemologist. Campbell was equally dumbfounded.

He studied the stone, trying to ascertain its origin. The
owner’s story placing it on the High Priest’s breastplate were too incredible.
But the family had documentation that traced its descent from a Crusader-period
male ancestor who had been in the Holy Land in the Middle Ages and claimed the
stone was a reward from the High Priest. Could it be true?

The Thousand-Year Story

According to the Auret family tradition, the ancestor, named
Croiz Arneet deTarn Auret, received the stone from “the High Priest”
in gratitude for his part in freeing Jerusalem around 1189. The custodianship
of the stone was passed on in the Auret family through the male line until the
nineteenth century. That tradition was broken when Abraham Auret passed away in
1889, bequeathing the stone to his daughter, Christina Elizabeth.

After her marriage to William James Hurst, the stone left
the Auret name, and has been passed on from mother to daughter ever since.
Meticulously recorded family trees and genealogical reports corroborate the
story. The stone was passed on as an inheritance and is presently owned by an
elderly woman in South Africa, who wishes to remain anonymous.

It has been strongly transmitted to each member of the
family through the centuries that it was God’s hand that inserted the
mysterious inscription inside the stone.

Experts Agree

The mystery of the writing remained. Dr. Strange noted that
the stone had no external markings, so it clearly hadn’t been set in a ring or
a necklace. He was forced to conclude that it had probably been set in a large
plate or breastplate. He dated production of the stone to approximately the 5th
century BCE.

As an appraiser, Dr. Strange could not erase all doubt, but
he could certainly evaluate it as a one-of-a-kind. He appraised the stone’s
value at $175-$225 million.

The gemologist, Mr. Campbell, photomicrographed
(photographing via a microscope) the stone, confirming it had not been cut open
to make the inscription. When asked to estimate the value of the stone, Mr.
Campbell wrote, “How does one logically go about putting a value to
something like a proven religious artifact that is a ‘one of’ article?”

He estimated that $200 million was a “fair starting
point”.

The owner of the stone also consulted Professor M. Sharon
from the University of Witwatersrand. The professor, an expert in ancient
Hebrew, was given a photo of the stone. The blurry photographs hinted at
something astounding but he had to be sure. Intrigued, he asked to examine the
actual stone.

In his written report, he said that when he held it to the
light, he was amazed to see very clearly inside the stone itself, two letters
in ancient Hebrew. The letters seemed to be engraved or burnt into the heart of
the stone.

“Due to the clarity of the letters and their fine
definition it would be incredible if they are a coincidental natural formation
in the stone,” he stated in his notarized report. “The lack of any
apparent sign of interference with the surface makes the existence of the
letters inside the stone a real enigma.”

He noted the inscriptions in ancient Hebrew script of what
he described as “the equivalent of our ‘B’ and ‘K’.” He identified
the style of script, dating it to be from the year 1000 BCE, give or take
200-300 years.

In 1994, Dr. Joan Goodnick Westenholz, who served as Chief
Curator at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem, examined the stone. She
concluded, “It is a unique object that has no similar or identical
counterpart; it is the only one of its kind in the world.”

Dr. Goodnick Westenholz believed that the gem was
“priceless”, estimating the date of the stone’s production to be
approximately the 7th century BCE. She noted the inscription “in the shape
of a possible letter is a ninth century form of an archaic Hebrew letter
bet.”

In her notarized report, she observed next to the letter bet
“what can be perceived as the image of a wolf.” She noted that the
wolf corresponded to the blessing Jacob gave Benjamin.

Binyamin is a wolf that raveneth; in the morning he
devoureth the prey, and at even he divideth the spoil. Genesis 49:27

But Is It True?

Dr. Westenholz and Ian Campbell have since passed
away, but Breaking Israel News was able to confirm that their statements and
documentation were genuine. Campbell’s apprentice, Jeremy Rothon, confirmed the
original appraisal and told Breaking Israel News that he was well aware of the
stone’s heritage. It had made an enormous impression on Campbell and he had
discussed it at length with his student.

Dr. Strange remembers the stone very well, and is more
convinced than ever of its authenticity. “A lot of water has flowed under
the bridge since then,” Dr. Strange told Breaking Israel News. “I
calculated then that if it were a fraud, then one or more very similar others
would show up on the international market rather soon, but to my knowledge none
has.”

He called for new examination of the gem. “I think this
object needs a new appraisal and as many scientific tests as possible to
determine whether it is genuine,” said Dr. Strange. “If it turns out
to be an artifact important to the history of the Jewish people, then that is
truly wonderful. If it turns out to be a masterful fraud, then I will be
pained that I was duped.”

The Journey Home

The present owner has contracted with a South African
businessman to find investors who are willing to purchase the stone and bring
it home to Israel. Both parties prefer to remain anonymous. When he saw the
stone and understood what it was, the businessman was dismayed, understanding
that it could easily turn into a commodity, an object of greed.

He recognized that this small stone was an enormous part of
Jewish history and set out to find an investor who would recompense the owner
with the intention of bringing it to Israel and donating it to the Temple.

“I’ve been involved with deals like this before,”
he told Breaking Israel News. “There are pieces of Egyptian heritage in
museums all over the world. People find something and sell it, without thinking
about what it is. That is what is done and it is a shame, even more so with
this stone. Several people have been trying to buy or sell this stone, turning
it into a business. All I really wanted to do was get the stone back to Israel
where it belongs.”

Many people have begun to discount the Jewish connection to
Israel and the Temple Mount, claiming the Jewish Temples are fairytale
accounts. This small stone and its miraculous engraving that once lit up the
High Priest’s breastplate are proof that the Temple stood in Jerusalem, and may
signal the return of more artifacts that have been misplaced, waiting to return
home.

The site of Herodium was excavated by Professor Gideon Prester of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1968 to 1969, during which the ring was found at the hilltop palace. Dr. Roi Porat of the Hebrew University headed the exploration of the site’s findings and led the team that worked to clean and examine the ring. Pilate’s name was not considered to be common during this time, and the seal is typical of the status of cavalry in Roman society, which is why the authors of the publication believe it belonged to the prefect.

An inscription on a copper-alloy ring that was found nearly 50 years ago at an excavation near Herodium has been deciphered and could have possibly belonged to Pontius Pilate.

Over 50 years ago, at the site of the ancient Herodium in Israel, a ring was found that dated back to the First Century AD. It bore an inscription that until very recently remained undeciphered. Archaeologists have now been able to decode it, and have found that it bears the words ‘of Pilate’. Interestingly, Pilate was the 5th of the Roman governors, or prefects, in ancient Judea, and 5 is the number of death and judgment in the Bible. So it is fitting that Pilate would be the one to pronounce death upon the innocent Jesus of Nazareth.

“The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.” Acts 4:26-28 (KJV)

The Bible tells us that while both Herod and Pontius Pilate were there standing against Jesus, so too were the people of the nation of Israel there to oppose thier king. That opposition continues to this day as you will note in the below article from the JPost. They refuse to give God the glory by using the global standard of BC – which stands for ‘before Christ’, and AD – meaning ‘in the year of our Lord’, when referring to Old and New Testament times, and have changed it to BCE – ‘before the common era’, and CE – ‘common era’.

“And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it. And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing. And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee. But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled.” Mark 15:2-5 (KJV)

Pray for Israel and the Jewish people, that the scales that cover their spiritual eyes, and that are over their hearts, will be removed and that some might be saved before the start of the time of Jacob’s trouble.

INSCRIPTION REVEALED ON JESUS’S KILLER’S RING

FROM THE JERUSALEM POST: The Roman prefect, who was notoriously credited with the death of Jesus, ruled the Judea province from 26 CE to 36 CE. The inscription, which was published in the latest edition of the Israel Exploration Journal, includes the words “Of Pilate” [πιλατο] on the small seal ring dated to the first century BCE to the mid-first century CE.

It also contains a depiction of a krater, a type of jar that originated in ancient Greece that was used for watering down wine. The newly published article also discusses the typology of ancient representations of kraters in Second Temple Jewish art.

The site of Herodium was excavated by Professor Gideon Prester of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1968 to 1969, during which the ring was found at the hilltop palace. Dr. Roi Porat of the Hebrew University headed the exploration of the site’s findings and led the team that worked to clean and examine the ring.

Pilate’s name was not considered to be common during this time, and the seal is typical of the status of cavalry in Roman society, which is why the authors of the publication believe it belonged to the prefect. Though the ring is simple, it was likely to be used for daily functions, such as signing documents by officials or court staff who would have signed documents in Pilate’s name.

Pilate was the fifth of the Roman prefects in Judea. It is assumed by archaeologists that Pilate used Herodium, originally built in the first century CE by King Herod, as an administrative center.

The ring’s study was led and produced by Malka Hershkovitz and Professor Shua Amorai-Stark, and was co-authored by Gideon Foerster, Yakov Kalman, Rachel Chachy and Porat.

According to ancient historian Josephus and canonical gospel accounts, Pilate lobbied for Jesus to be spared his eventual fate of execution, but eventually gave into public demands for his death. He had famously sought to avoid personal accountability for Jesus’s death, as is seen in the Gospel of Matthew with his symbolic “washing of his hands.”

“And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? And they cried out again, Crucify him. Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.” Mark 15:12-14 (KJV)

The only other physical archaeological evidence that confirms Pilate’s existence is a Latin inscription found on a limestone block that is Pilate’s tribute to Tiberius. It was found as a reused block within a staircase at the Roman theater in Caesarea, and is now housed at the Israel Museum. The inscription on the stone also references Pilate as prefect of Judea

All mankind descended from 1 couple

In a major shock to evolutionary science, a sweeping survey of the genetic code shows the human race sprang from a single adult couple.

The research was led by the Rockefeller University and the University of Basel, Switzerland, and stunned all involved.

“This conclusion is very surprising,” said David Thaler, research associate from the University of Basel. “And I fought against it as hard as I could.”

While still holding to an old Earth with these modern humans dating back between 100,000 to 200,000 years, it’s a time far more recent than other claims in the evolutionary theory.

In addition, this Adam and Eve, the researchers say, arose after a catastrophic event than nearly wiped out the human race. The Bible’s a story of a couple created by God as a adults.

Another surprise for the scientists, however, was that nine of every 10 animal species also come from a single pair of beings.

Senior research associate Mark Stoeckle and Thaler, the two scientists who headed the study, concluded 90 percent of all animal species alive today come from parents that all began giving birth at roughly the same time, less than 250 thousand years ago — throwing into doubt the patterns of human evolution.

“At a time when humans place so much emphasis on individual and group differences, maybe we should spend more time on the ways in which we resemble one another and the rest of the animal kingdom,” said Stoeckle.

The study also suggests people and animals are very similar genetically to each other.

“If a Martian landed on Earth and met a flock of pigeons and a crowd of humans, one would not seem more diverse than the other according to the basic measure of mitochondrial DNA,” said Jesse Ausubel, director of the Program for the Human Environment at the Rockefeller University.

Stoeckle agrees, adding: “Culture, life experience and other things can make people very different but in terms of basic biology, we’re like the birds.”

During the annual meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research in Denver, Colorado, scholar Phillip Silvia reported the preliminary findings of their excavations in the area, which some scientists consider to be home to the Biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The results suggest that cities and settlements in the Jordan Valley’s Middle Ghor region, where up to 65,000 people lived around that time, were obliterated with a powerful wave of heat, wind and tiny particles, the outlet Science News reports.

According to the Bible, the ancient cities, thought to have been located on the Dead Sea, were wiped away by God for the sinful behaviour of their people. The preliminary findings of US scientists suggest that this region witnessed a major calamity almost 4 thousand years ago, which left it uninhabited for centuries.

God looks down on man’s nuclear weapons, and I believe He laughs at our puny attempts at warfare. He has things in His arsenal that make our most powerful nukes look like firecrackers. We first read about these weapons in the 38th chapter of the book of Job. The weather is the strongest weapon that has ever been created, and there is no defense against it. Think about that the next time your ‘small talk‘ revolves around the weather, no small matter there.

“But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly. Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.” Genesis 13:13, 19:24,25 (KJV)

Contrary to modern-day Laodicean revisionists, the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of unrepentant homosexual behaviour. This was the place where the original LGBTQ lifestyle was founded, and when God pronounced judgement on it in a fiery blast from above, Sodom and Gomorrah ceased to exist. That area today, as you see in the photo, resembles a bomb blast crater after an horrific explosion has taken place. It remains uninhabited to this day.

“And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD: And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.” Genesis 19:27,28 (KJV)

Bible Revisited: Alleged Sodom Site Thought to Have Been Hit by Cosmic Blast

FROM SPUTNIK: Archaeologists from Trinity Southwest University, a Christian higher educational institution in Albuquerque, New Mexico, have claimed civilisation in the Dead Sea region was destroyed 3,700 years ago following a meteor explosion in the atmosphere.

During the annual meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research in Denver, Colorado, scholar Phillip Silvia reported the preliminary findings of their excavations in the area, which some scientists consider to be home to the Biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The results suggest that cities and settlements in the Jordan Valley’s Middle Ghor region, where up to 65,000 people lived around that time, were obliterated with a powerful wave of heat, wind and tiny particles, the outlet Science News reports.

Waives also pushed salty water from the Dead Sea, which devastated the soil. The explosion, the researchers argue, “not only wiped out 100% of the Middle Bronze Age cities and towns, but also stripped agricultural soil from once-fertile fields,” Newsweek reports.

According to the scientists, a low-altitude meteor explosion caused the catastrophe which wiped out the region, including the ancient city of Tall el-Hammam, where the researchers worked for years. Radiocarbon dating reportedly revealed that mud-brick walls suddenly disappeared in the Middle Ghor city, as only stone foundations remained.

A pottery surface found on the site was melted into glass, which may be a result of extreme temperatures. Following the alleged blast, people wouldn’t return to the region for 600-700 years.

Humanity has seen several space explosions before. Five years ago, a near-Earth asteroid exploded in the atmosphere near the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, making headlines around the world and even worming its way into a Hollywood movie. This resulted in over 1,000 people being injured (mostly by broken glass from windows blown out by the shockwave). A more powerful blast came in 1908, when an asteroid exploded over a scarcely populated Siberian region on the Tunguska River, wiping away 2,000 square kilometres.

Trailer for new film presents jaw-dropping evidence

For villagers and Bedouins in northwest Saudi Arabia, it’s simply a matter of fact that the “mountain of Moses,” where the great prophet received the Ten Commandments directly from God and other iconic biblical events took place, is in their midst.

That assertion conflicts with the conventional wisdom of scholars who believe the site is in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

But the few Westerners who have visited the highly restricted area in the highly restricted Islamic kingdom insist that seeing is believing. And there are others who have done extensive research over the years who agree.

In May, WND reported the findings of Bible scholar and author Joel Richardson, who embarked on his journey to the mountainous area known as Jabal al-Lawz with skepticism but returned “fully confident that this is the real Mount Sinai.”

“At every turn, everything lines up with the biblical narrative. Everything falls into place,” Richardson said. “If this is not Mount Sinai, then God Himself has masterfully created the greatest hoax in human history.”

Now, Ryan Mauro, a national security analyst who frequently appears on Fox News, is producing a video documenting his own trips to the area, titled “The Mountain of Moses,” so people can see the evidence for themselves.

Mauro, who was also an adjunct professor for Liberty and Regent Universities until recently, has been covertly traveling to Saudi Arabia to obtain unprecedented footage of the sites.

They include many landmarks and other evidence that fit the biblical descriptions of the rock at Horeb struck by Moses, the golden-calf altar made by the Israelites and the altar constructed by Moses.

It’s the region that the Bible calls Midian, where Moses married Jethro’s daughter and shepherded Jethro’s flocks.

Mauro points out that the Bible says more than 70 times that the Israelites went “out of Egypt.”

“If this is Mount Sinai and the sites seen in this video are evidences of the Exodus, then this will impact the billions of people of faith, and those with no faith at all,” he told WND.

‘Where Moses walked’

Mauro said local Saudis were “excited to tell us that we were traveling where Moses and the Israelites walked.”

“Some Saudis were coming from across the country just to see the area believed to be the land of Jethro and the well where Moses met Jethro’s daughters. Muslims from around the world visit the area, believing it is related to the Exodus.”

The video he is producing includes the testimony of a former member of a jihadist group who claims he and other jihadists knew Mount Sinai was in Saudi Arabia, protected by fences and guards.

The jihadist believes Saudi Islamic Law has saved the mountain from being ruined, explaining it otherwise would have been turned into an oft-visited site of idolatry.

“Local Saudis we met were proud of the fact that Moses and the Israelites were there,” Mauro said.

One local said, “This is our land, but it is also the land of the Yahud [Jews] who came here long ago.”

Neom

Remarkably, the “mountain of Moses” is within an area designated by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud as the site of his $500 billion, futuristic megacity called Neom.

Thirty-three times larger than New York City, it’s to be an autonomous zone with its own legal and taxation system, independent from Riyadh.

A promo video shows the prince’s utopian vision to “set aside a part of the world for those who want to change the world,” providing “the blank page you need to write humanity’s next chapter.”

Mauro said he’s already seeing construction in the area and a sharp increase in security.

“Even if the Saudi construction does not directly harm archaeological artifacts, it could prevent future excavation and ruin the scenery that allows you to envision the Exodus right before your eyes,” he said.

“We are calling for the entire plain in front of Mount Sinai to be preserved so that artifacts are not damaged and so the Exodus story can come to life for everyone.”

He said his video will be released along with a comprehensive website to house the research and provide updates.

The website will post a petition calling on the U.S. State Department and Saudi government to preserve the sites and have them put on UNESCO’s World Heritage list.

Mauro said he’s concerned that the Saudis might preserve the sites but not the Exodus-like environment.

“We don’t want it to become like the pyramids in Giza, Egypt. The pyramids are an impressive sight, but there are streets, stores and hotels so close by that it’s hard to feel like you’re in ancient Egypt. We don’t want that to happen to these sites in Saudi Arabia.”

Rock of ages

Joel Richardson at the “split rock of Moses at Horeb” (Courtesy Joel Richardson)

In the May interview with WND, Richardson noted that within the academic community, some have reacted harshly to the claim that Mt. Sinai is at al-Lawz, while others cautiously believe it’s a possibility.

“If those on the fence actually could visit the site, I guarantee they would be fully convinced, or 95 percent there,” Richardson said.

Scholars such as James Karl Hoffmeier, a professor of Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern History and Archaeology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and creationist Gordon Franz have argued against the Saudi site as the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments.

Richardson argues that no scholar has sufficiently addressed the fact that among the various petroglyphs found in the area is an image of an ancient menorah, offering evidence of a Hebrew community.

A Wikipedia entry on Jabal al-Lawz contends investigators who believe it’s the location of Mt. Sinai such as Ron Wyatt, Bob Cornuke and Lennart Moller have misidentified a mountain called Jabal Maqla as Jabal al-Lawz.

Richard explains Jabal al-Lawz, which means “Mountain of Almonds,” is the name of the entire range.

In biblical times, the range was called Horeb.

Jabal Maqla, also rendered Jebel al-Makklah, is the specific mountain in question. It’s also known as “Jabal Musa,” the “Mountain of Moses.”

“This is a mountain with a dark-colored basalt rock on the top, as well as a cave on its front – ‘the Cave of Elijah’ – with an altar at its base with bulls carved all over it, ‘the Golden Calf altar,’” he said. “It also has an animal corral and altar, and pillars at its base, consistent with God’s command to Moses to build at the base of the mountain.”

In addition, he said, newly discovered petroglyphs at the foot of mountain depict archers, echoing a warning by Moses recorded in Exodus that anyone who set foot on the mountain would be shot with arrows.

“Jethro’s view,” with Horeb on the left and the triple peak believed to be Mount Sinai on the right (Courtesy Joel Richardson)

“When you go there, it becomes very obvious that this is the real site,” Richardson told WND. “The other large granite mountain just to the north of it is what the Bible called Horeb. The split rock of Horeb is just to the northwest of it.”

The split rock (Courtesy Joel Richardson)

Consistent with the biblical account of water pouring out of the rock, there are clear signs of water erosion in an arid area where such erosion is evident nowhere else, said Richardson.

“It borders on the absurd to think all of these things are all coincidences. Further, all of the locals would have to be deceived, because they all call it the mountain of Moses, or the rock of Moses,” he said.

“I was picturing red spray paint in my mind and couldn’t understand how that happened because the latest dating could only be 2,000 years ago or earlier,” said Levi. But when she saw the professionally chiseled Hebrew lettering inscribed into the stone column, she realized it was something unusual. Brushing off the dirt, she began to read what was written. “My heart started to pound and I was sure everyone could hear it. My hands were trembling so badly I couldn’t properly take a picture,” said Levi, who dates the column and its inscription to 100 BC.

The earliest stone inscription bearing the full spelling of the modern Hebrew word for Jerusalem was unveiled on Tuesday at the Israel Museum, in the capital.

This earliest known engraving of the word ‘Jerusalem’ in Hebrew is a stunning discovery that has archaeologists in Israel weeping for joy. Jerusalem, the City of David, is the capital city of the only land on earth known as God’s Land.

“The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.” Psalm 147:2 (KJV)

FROM THE TIMES OF ISRAEL: While any inscription dating from the Second Temple period is of note, the 2,000-year-old three-line inscription on a waist-high column — reading “Hananiah son of Dodalos of Jerusalem” — is exceptional, as it is the first known stone carving of the word “Yerushalayim,” which is how the Israeli capital’s name is pronounced in Hebrew today.

“A worker came to me in the office towards the end of the day and excitedly told me to grab my camera and writing materials because he’d found something written,’” Levi told The Times of Israel, ahead of the column’s unveiling Tuesday.

At first, the excited worker could not clearly explain what he had found, and Levi thought it was graffiti.

“I was picturing red spray paint in my mind and couldn’t understand how that happened because the latest dating could only be 2,000 years ago or earlier,” said Levi. But when she saw the professionally chiseled Hebrew lettering inscribed into the stone column, she realized it was something unusual. Brushing off the dirt, she began to read what was written.

“My heart started to pound and I was sure everyone could hear it. My hands were trembling so badly I couldn’t properly take a picture,” said Levi, who dates the column and its inscription to 100 BC.

The 80 cm. high column has a diameter of 47.5 cm, said Levi, and would have originally been used in a Jewish craftsman’s building. It presumably belonged to or was built with money from Hananiah son of Dodalos.

While inscribed in a Jewish village — Levi said there is evidence of ritual baths as well as other finds bearing Hebrew lettering at the site — the column was eventually reused in a plastered wall, found in a ceramic construction workshop in use by the Tenth Roman Legion, that would eventually destroy Jerusalem in 70 AD

During an interview on Tuesday, Clinton said that Democrats can be civil toward Republicans when they take back the House, Senate or both.

“You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about,” the former secretary of state said.

Clinton would rather see the country thrown into chaos, Ingraham said, than admit Trump’s policies are succeeding.

“This is all about foisting a liberal construct on America,” she said.

Democrats are actually resentful that the country is prospering, Ingraham added, and they’re displaying Antifa-like resistance.

“The Democrats have decided to run on just a platform of demonization.”

Within two full years will I bring back into this place all the vessels of Hashem‘S house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Bavel took away from this place, and carried them to Bavel. Jeremiah 28:3 (The Israel Bible™)

After nearly a decade of writing, the remarkable story of one man’s quest to decipher the ancient map leading to the gold and silver Temple vessels is being published.

Shelley Neese, vice president of the Jerusalem Connection, became involved in the story over a decade ago and has spent nearly eight years writing the The Copper Scroll Project, the story of an unlikely hero who may have unraveled one of history’s most enduring mysteries.

In 2007, Neese was the editor for Jerusalem Connection Magazine and she met Barfield at a Christian conference in Texas.

“I was unfamiliar with the Copper Scrolls, and at first I didn’t believe his story about treasure maps, gold, and the Jewish Temple,” Neese, told Breaking Israel News. “All the alarm bells in my head went off. But after I looked it up, I realized that he hadn’t embellished it at all.”

Discovered in 1952 near Qumran on the shores of the Dead Sea, the Copper Scroll is unlike the other Dead Sea Scrolls which are mostly religious manuscripts written on parchment. The Copper Scroll, as its name suggests, is engraved on a thin sheet of copper. And, in contrast to the others, the Copper Scroll is a list of gold and silver items and the 64 locations where they can be found.

Many archaeologists believe the Copper Scroll is an inventory from the Second Temple.In addition to gold and silver, Temple vessels and priestly vestments are listed. No archaeologist has ever succeeded in deciphering the directions contained in the Copper Scroll and finding the treasure.

The book follows the efforts of Jim Barfield, a man who, at first glance, seems entirely unsuited to search for the Temple artifacts, but whose unique skills may have solved one of history’s most enduring mysteries. Barfield, a Noahide who speaks no Hebrew, also has no background in archaeology. A retired criminal investigator for the Oklahoma Fire Department, Barfield was used to patiently sifting through the ashes to find the truth.

In 2006, Barfield was interested in the Dead Sea Scrolls and their relevance to Bible study. At first, he was uninterested in the Copper Scroll which had no theological significance. Barfield’s fascination turned into a burning desire after he met Vendyl Jones. Jones, a Texas preacher turned Biblical archaeologist, believed Qumran to be the hiding place for the Temple vessels and spent 30 years searching for them using the Copper Scroll as a guide. Jones discovered a small vial of persimmon oil used to anoint kings and high priests, and a large quantity of what he believed was Temple incense. Barfield met with Jones, now deceased, and Jones suggested he revisit the Copper Scroll.

“Vendyl told Jim the Copper Scroll had more prophecy in it than any of the other Dead Sea Scrolls,” Neese said.

Barfield’s curiosity turned into passion and he returned to deciphering the Copper Scroll. He searched maps for the “ruins of the Valley of Achor” mentioned in the scroll. The valley is believed to be near Jericho but the precise location is unknown. As a young man, he had piloted helicopters for the U.S. Army. Using his map-reading skills to triangulate, he was able to pinpoint locations on an aerial map of Qumran. Very quickly, pieces of the puzzle began falling into place.

Part of the mysterious Copper Scroll found at the Qumran caves (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

“It’s really not revolutionary what he did,” Neese said. “He figured it out using available sources in his office in Oklahoma, relying on his skills as an arson investigator.”

In one case, the scroll described steps, 40 cubits long, heading east. Barfield did indeed find stairs. The archaeologist reported the stairs to be 60 feet, or precisely 40 cubits. He also discovered the remains of a pool, precisely 40 cubits long, exactly where the scroll said it would be. He believed he had found many of the locations listed on the scroll but to verify his theories, he needed to visit the site.

In 2007, Barfield travelled to Israel to do exactly that, but to pursue his investigation, he needed the approval of the Israel Antiquities Authority to search Qumran. Barfield met with Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) director Shuka Dorfman. Dorfman was unreceptive at first, but as Barfield laid out his proofs, explaining the signposts described in the Copper Scroll, Dorfman became enthusiastic and arranged a meeting with veteran archaeologist and Qumran expert, Yuval Peleg.

Peleg agreed to dig some exploratory holes at the site with Barfield. Less than an hour after beginning shallow test pits, Peleg received a phone call and without any explanation, Peleg shut down the dig.

This was the beginning of many bureaucratic stone walls preventing Barfield from verifying his theory. He purchased a sophisticated metal detector that could penetrate 50 feet while differentiating between ferrous and non-ferrous metal, i.e. gold and silver. Barfield applied to the IAA, asking to run a non-intrusive scan of a few spots in Qumran. His request was denied.

In 2013, Barfield was in New York where he was introduced to Moshe Feiglin who, at the time, was a Likud Member of Knesset. Feiglin was a strong advocate for the Temple and became enthused when he heard Barfield’s story, even offering to accompany him on a tour of the site. A few weeks later, the two were wandering around the tourist site, a large duffel bag in tow. They visited five spots that Barfield felt were most likely repositories for Temple treasure.

One hour later, Barfield ran the data from the metal detector through his computer. Every spot was a hit and one locus especially so.

“It showed up on the metal detector like Fort Knox,” Neese said.

The Israeli government is still not permitting Barfield to investigate and there has been a moratorium on archaeological digging at Qumran.

“It is in area C and different laws apply to the archaeology than in other parts of Israel,” Neese said. “It is disputed territory and anything that comes out of the ground can be disputed. It is possible that the Israeli government is concerned that if they dig up this massive treasure, Jordan or the Palestinian Authority will sue for it. Even if it comes from the Jewish Temple.”

In fact, the Copper Scroll, an ancient artifact inscribed in Hebrew, is currently in a museum in Amman, Jordan.

In an interview with Breaking Israel News last year, Barfield stated his motives.

“I am a Noahide,” he explained to Breaking Israel News. “I want to return the Temple artifacts to the Jewish People. It’s time.”

If Barfield is successful, it will bring the Third Temple much closer.

Not only does Neese chronicle this amazing story but she was an integral player in much of it. A native of Louisiana, she first came to Israel in 2000 with her husband, a U.S. Air Force physician. With no knowledge of Israel, she became intensely curious about the country and received her M.A in Middle Eastern Studies from Ben Gurion University. She spent the months leading up to the Gaza disengagement in 2005 in Israel, working with a team of negotiators. When she went back to the U.S., she became the assistant to the Consul General at the Consulate of Israel to New England.

Welcome

Revelation 1:3 "Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near".
Tommy Settipani,
Watchman for Christ